2 Peter 3:3–4 NLT: “3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4 They will say, ‘What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.’”
Jesus scorned the carnality of the Pharisees for not recognizing prophetic symbolism.
Matthew 16:1–3 NLT: “1 One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. 2 He replied, “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; 3 red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’ You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times!”
Why Israel Is Significant?
1. They are the only nation directly created by God:
- “1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you’” (Genesis 12:1–3 NLT).
2. They are in an everlasting covenant with God:
- “7 I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:7–8 NLT).
3. They have blessed the world more than any nation on earth.
- They gave us Jesus.
- They gave us the Bible.
- They gave us the Church.
4. They are God’s prophetic super-sign and stopwatch.
What Has Happened, and What Will Happen with Israel?
Joel 2:31–3:2 NLT, emphasis added: “31 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. 32 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the Lord has said. These will be among the survivors whom the Lord has called. 1 ‘At the time of those events,’ says the Lord, ‘when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land.’ ”
1. What has happened
- Israel has been scattered among the nations for millenniums.
- Israel has become a nation again (fulfilling Joel 3:1).
- Jeremiah 30:3 NLT: “3 For the time is coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people of Israel and Judah. I will bring them home to this land that I gave to their ancestors, and they will possess it again. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
- Their prosperity will be restored.
- Their land will be divided.
- Zechariah 12:2–3 NASB95: “2 Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. 3 It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.”
- Worldwide anti-Semitism
- Luke 21:24 NLT: “24 They will be killed by the sword or sent away as captives to all the nations of the world. And Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the period of the Gentiles comes to an end.”
- Signs in the heavens
2. What will happen
- The Christian church will become the only true ally of Israel.
- The end of the age of Gentiles and a revival among the Jews will occur.
- The war of Gog and Magog will take place (Ezekiel 38:2–9 NLT).
- A seven year covenant with the Antichrist will be established.
- Daniel 9:26–27 NLT
- Matthew 24:15–22 NLT
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 NLT
- The rebuilding of the temple will take place.